Rail bond



Fatented Earn. 15, 1935 PATENT v OFFICE RAIL BOND Edward M. Deems, Forest Hills, N. Y., assignor to Railroad Accessories Corporation, N. Y., a corporation of New York New York,

Application October 10, 1929, Serial No. 398,582

2 Claims.

' This invention relates to conductors, more especially to conductors for connecting the adjacent ends of railway rails, particularly, those for use in connection with railway track circuits.

It is well understood by those skilled in the railway signalling art, that a track circuit includes an insulated section of the trackway formed by placing insulating joints in each of the lines of rails, and by connecting a battery across the rails at one end, and a relay across the rails at the other end.

It is also well understood, that the ordinary rail connecting or fish plates connecting the adjacent ends ofthe ordinary thirty foot sections are not to be relied upon to furnish sufiicient conductivity for the electrical energy which flows in the rails from the battery at one end of the section to the relay at the other end thereof. This fact has necessitated a special bonding of each of the adjacent abutting rail ends within the section.

Great difficulties have been encountered in successfully bondingthe adjacent abutting rail ends in track circuit sections because provision has to be made for many adverse conditions. A common method is to bond, from one rail web to the adjacent rail web, by means of one or a plurality of conductors of a length somewhat greater than the length of the fish plates. This method of bonding exposes the bonding wires to mechanical injury, in that, they may become entangled with dragging parts from the rolling stock, or may actually get onto the top of the rail, and so be severed by the passage thereover of the wheels of rolling stock. In addition, they are very likely to be damaged by trackmen, when working along the track, particularly when working in and about the rail joint and more especially when tighten-t ing the bolts thereof, or replacing the fish plates with new plates.

A very pronounced difficulty with the old type of bond is, that due to its length and in spite of its size as it may be commercially used, it does not offer a conductivity as great as is desired. The desired conductivity cannot be attained without enlarging the bond to a prohibitive extent.

Attempts have been made to increase the con ductivity and decrease the mechanical disadvantages of bonds by applying a bond directly to the rail heads. Such a bond can be very short, as compared with the previously described bond; therefore, for a given diameter has an increased conductivity in that it has less resistance. Such bonds have, in general, been applied to the head of the rail by electrical or fiamewelding. Many competent engineers are adverse to applying any considerable degree of heat to the side of the ball of a rail, especially adjacent the end thereof, and this reluctance, considered by manyto be well founded, has militated against the use of such 5 bonds.

A further difflculty which has been met with in the type of bond applied directly to the rail heads is that it is particularly exposed to contact with dragging parts of rolling stock.

A principal object of the present invention is the production of a bond which will obviate most of the defects of the type of bonds hereinbefore described which are connected from rail web to rail web, and which on the other hand will have the desirable virtues of a rail bond connected from rail head to rail head, and will be free from most of the undesirable characteristics of the electrical or flame welded bonds.

A further object of the invention is the production of a bond of the type specified, and having the advantages specified, which will further be of such a construction that it may be applied to rails without the necessity for the cumbersome, expensive, unusual apparatus and tools 25 commonly required for aflixing an electrical or flame welded bond.

A further object of the invention is the production of a bond of the type described, which will be of a construction such that it will be of high conductivity, mechanically strong, and of small compass. I

A further object of the invention is the production of a bond of the type described which will be of such construction that the likelihood of 3 being caught and damaged by dragging parts of rolling stock will be greatly diminished.

Other objects and advantages will appear, as

the description of the particular physical embodiments, selected to illustrate the. invention progress, and the novel features of the invention will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In describing the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing, and the figures, and the characters of reference thereon, wherein similar characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the several views, and in which: I Figure 1 is a side elevational view of fragments of the ends oi two abutting rails including a splice bar and one of my rail head bonds in place; Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the arrangement shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on the plane indicated by the line Ill-HI of Fig. 1

viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends of the line; Fig. 4 is a verticalsectional view on the plane indicated by the line IV-IV of Fig. 3 viewed in the direction of the arrows at the ends of the line.

In Fig. 1', numeral 1 indicates one abutting rail end and 2 designates the other abutting rail end. 3 designates the ordinary and well known splice bar, and 4 designates the nuts and bolts used for retaining the splice bar and rails firmly attached one to the other.

Each rail head has a cavity as 5 formed therein. These cavities are used for receiving the attaching ends of a bond wire and a. means for retaining the end of the bond wire in the cavity.

The bond wire of my invention is formed of a conducting material and preferably copper. The copper is in the form of very thin sheets or laminae and as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is in the form of a ribbon. A desired number of these ribbons are placed one on top of: another and then bent into a wavy or zig-zag form and rings as 6 placed thereon to retain the separate lamina together. At each end the bond wire proper, designated as a whole by W, is twisted to an angle of about degrees, that is, about the points '7 and 8 and each end is bent to substantially a right angle with the general line of the bond wire proper, the ends being designated 9 and 10 in Fig. 2 and being also well shown in Fig. 3. The ends as 9 and 10 are then formed into substantially a semi-cylindrical shape as well shown in Fig. 3 in crosssection. This may be done in any usual or desired way as by pressure in a die. The ends are then preferably covered'and filled up with a molten material. A preferred way to accomplish this is to dip the end into molten solder.

After an end of the bond wire proper W is inserted in a cavity as 5 in a rail head a cooperating retaining member 11 is then driven into the same cavity alongside of the end of the bond wire.

This cooperating member 11 is in the form of a semi-cylinder slightly tapered. Driving such a number into the cavity '5 with the end of a bond wire will hold both securely in place, entirely fill the cavity and prevent the entrance of moisture or water.

As dragging parts of rolling stock may catch in or become entangled with the head of a bond it is desirable to so form the outstanding end of the member 11, that is'the portion or head 12, that it will not be readily caught by or entangled by dragging parts of rolling stock. To this end point and, as shown by Fig. 3, curves inwardly to substantially the same blunt point 13 and the two surfaces are so merged as to form practically a single continuous curved surface.

In order to withdraw or remove the bond wire from the rails it is merely necessary to insert a claw bar or other suitable into the space 14 as shown in Fig. 2 and by a prying action remove the member 11 from the 'cavity5 whereupon the bond wire may also be removed.

The purpose of forming the bond wire proper W in the wavy form is to allow sufficient length between the rail head so that the rail heads may move relatively one to the other in a vertical plane without bringing a strain on the bond wire and may also separate or come together without breaking the bond wire.

Although I have described and illustrated one preferred physical embodimentof my invention and modifications thereof, and explained the construction and principle of operation; nevertheless, I desire to have it understood that the forms selected are merely illustrative, but do not exhaust the possible physical embodiments of the ide of means underlying the invention.

What I claim as'new and desire to Letters Patent of the United States, is:

1. As an article of manufacture a retaining desecure by vice for a rail bond comprising a substantial half cylinder formed 'with a taper anda head projecting at substantially a right angle tothe half cylinder portion, said head having a surface curved downwardly and inwardly to-substantially a blunt point about in line with the lower edge. of the half cylinder when the flat face of.'the half 'cylinder is held vertically. Y

2. A retaining device adapted to secure a rail bond in a socket cavity'in a rail, said retaining device comprising a tapered wedge portion to lock the bond when forced'into said cavity with the bond and having ahead extending perpendicular to said wedge portion and .fornied with a'surface curving downwardly and inwardly to a blunt point 2 remote from the bond when in position'in a rail; whereby dragging parts of rolling stock will be deflected and prevented from injuring the rail bond. EDWARD M. DEEMS.

I so 

